Kennedy visits Ise Grand Shrine

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, center, and her husband Edwin Arthur Schlossberg, second from right, are escorted by Shinto priest Yoshiyuki Toriumi, left, at the Ise Grand Shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on Wednesday. Kennedy planted a dogwood tree, the symbolic tree of friendship between Japan and the United States, at the shrine.

State religion has been abolished in Japan due to the abuses of "state shinto" that led to atrocities of WW2. The USA doesn't worship a "sun goddess" and official visits should be restricted to official locations.

And although a respectful private visit is acceptable, it should never be part of the job of an ambassador to be forced to commit idolatry at a pagan temple.

@ Mackeral: When visitors including Ambassadors or other officials visit ancient, venerable sites wherever they may be in the world, they do not need to worship in order to view them. Many people of all religions visit temples and shrines in Japan just as they might the cathedrals of Europe. I'm sure Buddhists who have visited those sites were no more coerced into "commit Christianity" than Kennedy was forced to "commit idolatry."

toshiko:>Amaterasu Omikami was not Sun Goddess. Shrine is not temple as you all know temple is for Buddhism.

The English definition for 'temple' is a site dedicated to religious matters, and a 'shrine' is a repository for a sacred relic. The definitions apply to both Buddhist and Shinto facilities. It is only local custom that Japanese use the terms "shrine" and "temple" differently for Shinto and Buddhist sites.

According to ancient Japanese texts in time immemorial there was a long series of hundreds of gods born from each other's snot and spit and ear-wax and other bodily fluids and by chopping up gods with a swords to make new gods. By this long means of "reproduction" eventually Amaterasu-ōmikami was born and she allegedly became the "sun goddess" and she adopted her nephew and he became the first Japanese and head of the Japanese royal family. So the emperor is a decendanat of the gods and should be worshipped as a "kami". This is what this "Grand Shrine Ise" stands for - it is a key location for the state shinto cult.

@toshiko: The point is that Ms Kennedy is not suppose to support Japan's state shinto cult. As ambassador she may be called upon to criticises the Yasukuni visits, but now she will look like a hypocrite if she does so. Those visiting deified "kami" war criminals at Yasukuni's will say, "Why do you criticise us for just visiting a shrine exactly like you did at Ise?"

The Grand Shrine Ise is a key state shinto location because it is dedicated to the sun goddess idol who allegedly legitimises the cult of Emperor-worship. There are other idols there also. It is where the Emperor takes his secret coronation rituals and the shrine serves the royal family.

Japan is now a secular democracy and not run by an "god" emperor any more. The ambassador is creating confusion and not doing her job.

@Mac: Old jokes. Anyone who have to us Gofujo (Japanese toilet) couldn't be God. After
war was over, we had to explain Emperor's first word Chin is “I” not body part abbreviation.
So, Not all Japanese can be stereotyped Emperor worshippers Or God worshippers.